The Build Process

Dex's build process transforms your source files into a deployable application. This guide covers what happens and when.

Development Mode

Run with bun run dev:

bun run dev

What happens:

Watches web/pages/ and web/layouts/ for changes
Generates routes on file changes
Starts dev server with hot reload
Serves from core/router/.generated/

Output:

Routes generated in core/router/.generated/routes.ts
Server runs at http://localhost:7990
Hot reload on page edits

Production Build

Run with bun run build:

bun run build

What happens:

Generate routes — scans pages, creates routes.ts
Bundle client — compiles React to static JS
Build server — creates deployable Node binary
Copy assets — moves public/ to build/

Output structure:

build/
├─ server           # Node.js binary
├─ index.html       # Entry HTML
├─ assets/
│  ├─ client.js     # Client router bundle
│  └─ styles.css    # CSS (if any)
└─ core/
   └─ router/
      └─ .generated/
         ├─ routes.ts
         └─ layouts.ts

Build Commands

Command	Purpose
`bun run dev`	Start dev server with hot reload
`bun run build`	Create production build
`bun run start`	Run production server
`bun run generate`	Regenerate routes only

Generated Files

routes.ts

Maps routes to components:

export const routes = [
  { path: '/', component: () => import('../pages/index.tsx') },
  { path: '/about', component: () => import('../pages/about.tsx') },
]

layouts.ts

Maps layouts to pages:

export const layouts = {
  '/': () => import('../layouts/global.tsx'),
  '/blog': () => import('../layouts/blog.tsx'),
}

Never edit these files — they're auto-generated.

Customization

Override output locations in dex.config.ts:

export default {
  outDir: 'src/.generated',  // Generated files
  distDir: 'build',          // Production output
}

Build Process